Halfway there

Being just over halfway through March, I sat down this morning and had a look at the spending/saving charts to see how we are getting on.

(image from en.wikipedia.org)

March is shaping up well so far, with the spending columns looking a little leaner than they have been in the first two months of the year, and actually, the Slimming World plan is doing some good in that I am buying less "unhealthy" food and we are eating more fruit and veg out of the freezer, so there is now at least some wiggle room in the biggest of the freezers.  The FH's continuing stewed fruit breakfasts are also helping with that - he has worked his way through lots of redcurrants, blackcurrants and blackberries - doing him the world of good, too!

Spending on books, gifts and DVDs has also been kept under control, mostly because we have been restrained and there haven't been any birthdays much at this time of the year for which we would buy significant gifts.  The YFG is getting the Hunger Games DVD but that was promised months ago as a reward for passing the Grade 2 piano exam, and I can't begrudge her that - she has just had to wait until it came out.

Fuel costs have come down in recent months - the FH is having about £20 of petrol each month, which keeps his car ticking over, as he rarely goes out of the village in it, and mine is probably having about £80 of diesel each month, which is not bad going considering all the trips I make to gym, to chapels elsewhere and to various meetings.  I would like to use the car less in the village, but the EFG's bike is not in good shape at the moment, and that is the one I would use.

The expenses for the train trip to Aberdeen have been put on the Sainsbury's card, which is getting me valuable extra Nectar points.  The bill will be paid off in full at the end of the month, just like we do all the cards each month.  Two of them are rarely used now, so I am thinking about cancelling them.

And savings?  Well, not a lot so far but I have managed to get a couple of hundred pounds lodged in a little savings pot until the new ISA season opens and I can transfer it over to the ISA.  I have earned a little this month from gym coaching, so that is a bonus.  I was recently offered a position through an agency prepared to pay £20 an hour, but when I considered it realistically, the amount of travelling I would have had to do would have been a big issue, and being out of the house between 4 and 8 or 9 every evening would also have wreaked havoc on family life here as well as our other commitments.  It just wouldn't have worked, so I passed that opportunity up, somewhat sadly, as it would have been fun, and good to earn a little more.  The costs to the family were just too great - would have been more achievable with less travelling perhaps.